Jan. 3, 2013
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by Gary Levin, USA TODAY

by Gary Levin, USA TODAY

Viewers flocked to TBS and History in 2012, but fled from several other big cable channels, including Nickelodeon and MTV.

Year-end Nielsen ratings out Thursday showed the total cable audience was unchanged from 2011, even as most broadcast networks lost viewers. But as usual, it was a case of the haves and have-nots.

The top-10 ranked networks in prime time were mostly the same as the previous year, though History (up 8%, to a record average 2.2 million) moved up slightly to become the No. 5 network among all viewers thanks to its huge Hatfields & McCoys miniseries and non-historical series such as Pawn Stars and Swamp People.

USA was again the No. 1 network, averaging 2.9 million viewers in prime time, but fell 8% from 2011 and 11% among adults ages 18 to 49. Disney was No. 2 in prime time, averaging 2.4 million, down 9%, and ESPN was No. 3, flat at 2.3 million.

TNT, No. 4, dropped 3% to 2.2 million viewers, though it still had three of the top five original series. But sibling TBS jumped a big 20%, to average nearly 2 million viewers, thanks almost entirely to frequent reruns of CBS comedy The Big Bang Theory, which it began airing in heavy rotation. "This thing is such a phenomenon," says David Scardino of Los Angeles ad firm RPA. "People have fallen in love with that show." And the reruns have helped boost CBS' numbers for originals in the show's sixth season.

Fox News Channel (2.1 million), No. 6 in prime time, was up 9%, helped by the election and a busy news cycle that included Hurricane Sandy and the Newtown school shootings. And while MSNBC (913,000, up 16%) also benefited, CNN (681,000) and sibling HLN (337,000) dropped 2% and 32% respectively as their woes continued and new management was named.

Among kids networks, Nickelodeon and Disney Channel tied on a full-day basis, averaging 1.7 million viewers apiece, though Disney edged Nick among kids for the first time. Nick was down a big 20%, as SpongeBob SquarePants could not sustain a schedule bereft of new hits, and Disney dipped 4%. But Cartoon Network (1.2 million) began closing the gap, climbing 7%, and smaller fry such as Disney XD (+11%), Sprout (+37%) and The Hub (+35%) had their best years yet.

Nick wasn't the only sore spot at parent Viacom: MTV ratings swooned 23% to an average 919,000 in prime time, as Jersey Shore cooled from a record 9 million viewers in 2011 to 3 million when the series was canceled in December. "These numbers are down considerably, and they haven't found something to take its place yet," Scardino says. Nick at Nite was off 35%, Comedy Central fell 16%, BET dropped 9% and Spike was down 8%. But VH1 was a rare bright spot, climbing 16% with reality fare.

Among other gainers were Animal Planet, which rose 14%; Investigation Discovery, up 22%; National Geographic, up 15%; and the Oprah Winfrey Network, which rebounded 29% to a still-low average of 330,000 viewers, as the channel adjusted its programming strategy to compete more directly with channels such as corporate sister TLC, from which it borrowed several programs.

AMC climbed 7% among young adult viewers as zombie drama The Walking Dead soared to new heights and bested big-network rivals last fall among that audience.